Cyberbullying, self-esteem, empathy and loneliness

Brewer, G ORCID: 0000-0003-0690-4548 and Kerslake, J (2015) Cyberbullying, self-esteem, empathy and loneliness. COMPUTERS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR, 48. pp. 255-260.

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Abstract

Cyberbullying is a unique phenomenon, distinguished from traditional bullying by the speed at which information is distributed, permanence of material and availability of victims. There is however a paucity of research in this area, and few studies have examined the factors contributing to cyberbullying behaviour. The present study investigated the influence of self-esteem, empathy and loneliness on cyberbullying victimisation and perpetration. British adolescents (N = 90) aged 16-18 years were recruited from Further Education colleges. Participants completed the Revised Cyber Bullying Inventory (RCBI, Topcu & Erdur-Baker, 2010), the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell, Peplau, & Ferguson, 1978), Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ, Spreng, McKinnon, Mar, & Levine, 2009) and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965) online. Standard multiple regressions revealed that together, loneliness, empathy and self-esteem predicted levels of cyberbullying victimisation and perpetration. Self-esteem was a significant individual predictor of cyberbullying victimisation and perpetration, such that those with low self-esteem were most likely to report experience of cyberbullying. Empathy was a significant individual predictor of cyberbullying perpetration, such that as empathy decreases, likelihood of cyberbullying perpetration increases. These findings indicate that self-esteem and empathy oriented interventions may successfully address cyberbullying behaviour.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Cyberbullying, Loneliness, Empathy, Self-esteem, Perpetration, Victimisation
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	22 Aug 2018 07:55
Last Modified:	19 Jan 2023 01:26
DOI:	10.1016/j.chb.2015.01.073
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3025377